Introduction

Resumo

Reflecting on the possible interrelations between culture and politics increasingly requires multidimensional approaches. Insofar as the cultural realm relates in complex ways with the imposed (yet not unquestioned) forms of identification or thought, it can be neither considered the simple result of a structural arrangement nor as a sealed off system of meanings. Particularly in the context of contemporary social diversity, the cultural dimension is demonstrably articulated to conflicts and different political processes that engender a plurality of meanings. Thus, the connection between culture and politics reflects a tense and negotiated relationship between structured power and a dynamic field that incorporates conflicts centered around meanings through which the social order is experienced by agents. Therefore, the associations between politics and culture are assumed by and large to be unstable, given that social meanings are open to varying interpretations, which can imply either a consistent power structure of political instability.